So the headline reads on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com) story. While focusing in on the recent spate of bad weather and the decline of foot traffic for brick and mortar stores, it brings up two good questions: 1. Has this year's exceptionally bad winter hurt your business? 2. Did you have the wherewithal to withstand that decline? (please specify which market cap you're in)
Small-Businesses' Sales Decline Amid Winter Weather
Answers
The weather has not hurt my business at all. My company provides our management
To the contrary, I was able to get in front of a potential new client even more expeditiously because of the weather - they were stuck inside because of the weather & couldn't do business, so they were able to have the initial consultation much sooner than anticipated! We're about to close.
In the retail sector closing your doors is never favorable. A strong business should have enough reserve to handle a few days of closed doors. I think we only had to close twice to it wasn't that bad. I can imagine in cities where they lost power for weeks, may be a different story.
Luckily for us we have a several stores in different areas, so we not need to close all doors. My entire admin team can work from home, so we can still be productive, which helps.
Wayne:
From the manufacturing sector...
Yes transportation has been impacted due to the winter weather. It has influenced the ability to deliver to customers this season. Trucking companies - TL & LTL - have had periodic embargoes on freezable items, and/or limited shipments due to transportation restrictions on roads and routes. (we ship in 55-gal drums, 275/350-gal totes in TL and LTL quantities)
This has resulted in delayed delivery, not lost sales. Limited instance of damaged product resulting in product return. Big headaches for trucking companies, drivers, and customers at both ends of the load.
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FP&A